rebuttal
Americannoun
-
rebuttals
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rebuttal
Explanation
When two people debate, one of them makes an argument, and the other follows with a rebuttal, which, plainly put, is the "No, you're wrong, and this is why" argument. We often associate rebuttals with arguments made in the courtroom or public debates that occur around election time, but the word can really apply to any situation in which an argument is put forth and someone disagrees and explains why. Sports fans, for instance, like to argue about the likely winner of an upcoming game, and when you make a case for why your friend is wrong, you are offering a rebuttal of his argument.
Vocabulary lists containing rebuttal
Argumentative Writing
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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 1
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Rhetoric
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“It weakens the ‘no low-band’ rebuttal management teams have leaned on,” Maral wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Russell named multiple constitutional limitations, but Shanmugam still claimed on rebuttal that there was “no limit,” and that they risked lawsuits from at least “90,000 municipalities.”
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
In the same thread, though, came the rebuttal: there were good ghost kitchens.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
They include anyone whose careful social-science work, wherever it leads, has been met with organized suppression rather than organized rebuttal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Varney said this smiling, but he was driving in nails now, attacking deep and hard, sensing that the man in front of him could not even blink an eye in rebuttal.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
I can imagine diehard Green Lantern fans firing up their rebuttals as they read this.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
The page also suggests rebuttals to a Steyer ad attacking Becerra.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
If the board accepts the latest application, it will review public comment and rebuttals in the coming months before making a decision sometime in 2027.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
After critics blamed lobbyists for Slater’s ouster, Davis posted several rebuttals External link on X.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Given these convincing rebuttals, why have the majority of researchers nonetheless become High Counters?
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
